SILK. 



flant, and will not draw nsore when the bobbin is large 

 and full, or lefs when it is empty, as muft be the cafe when 

 the motion is given to the axis of the bobbm. 



After the filk is twilled in a right-hand direftion, if it 

 is intended for yarn, or for dyeing ; or in a lett-hand direc- 

 tion, if it is prepared for organzine ; it muft be wound on 

 frerti bobbins, with two or three threads together, prepara- 

 tory to twilling them into one thread. In tlie original 

 machines at Derby this was done by women, who, with 

 hand-wheels, wound the threads from two or three of the 

 large bobbins, upon which the filk is gathered inftead of 

 the reel?, and ailembled them two or three together upon 

 another bobbin, of a proper fr/c to be returned to the twill- 

 ing mill. We have feen an attempt for a machine to per- 

 form the doubling, which is (lightly reprefented injrg. 4. 

 The whole machine itfelf is very fimilar to the winding- 

 machine, ^g. 2, but inftead of t!ie fwift, the bobbins from 

 the throwfting-mill are placed in front at A, Jig. 4, two or 

 three in a row. The threads from thefe are palled over the 

 rail m, and beneath a piece of wood, n, both whith, being 

 covered with cloth, have the fame eifcCl to clean the filk by 

 drawing through them, as the fingers of the winder. B is 

 the bobbin upon which the two or three threads are to be 

 wound together ; it is turned by a wheel, F, upon which 

 it refts, the fame as the bobbins of the winding-machine ; 

 and D is the laver, which, for convenience, is in this cafe 

 placed behind the bobbin, B ; and the wire-eye, </, which 

 receives the three threads, is made to reach over to the 

 front. The additional apparatus confills of a fmall piece 

 of wood, e, which Aides freely up and down, in a hole, 

 through a fixed board, f. On the top of the Aider, c, is 

 an eye of wire, through which one of the finglc threads of 

 filk pafles in its pallage from between the pieces m, n, to the 

 bobbin B : there is one of thefe Aiders, e, to each of the 

 three threads ; t -v is a lever moving on the centre lu ; the 

 end t is immediately beneath the fmall Aiders e, and the 

 end V is formed to a hook, to catch into the notches 

 which are made in the end of the bobbin B. A fmall 

 counter weight, x, always caufes the hook, v, of this lever 

 to recede from the bobbin ; but if any one of the three 

 threads break, it fuffers the Aider r, which belongs to it, 

 to defcend upon the end, /, of the lever, and deprcfles the 

 end of the lever, fo as to bring the hook, v, in a fituation to 

 catch a tooth of the bobbin B, and ftop its motion. By 

 this means the winding of three threads together is rendered 

 equally certain with the wiiiditig of one ; for when any one 

 breaks, the operation of winding on that bobbin flops, 

 until the attendant repairs tlie broken thread, and puts the 

 machine again in motion. We have lately been informed, 

 that a machine for winding two and three threads together 

 is becoming common in the filk-mills, but we do not know 

 if it is the fame with this one, which however is not evi- 

 dently imprafticable. 



The bobbins, being thus filled with double or triple threads, 

 are carried back to the throwftiiig machine, and are there 

 fpun or twilled together, the manner of doing which does 

 not differ from the operation which we have before deieribed. 

 In this ft'cond operation the filk is taken up by reels inftead 

 of bobbins, and is thus made up into fl<eins. The degree of 

 twiil varies with the purpofc for which the filk is intended; 

 and the wheels which give motion to the reels are for this pur- 

 pofe adapted to the degree of twill which the filk is delired 

 to have. The filk, being now fpun, requires only the pre- 

 paration of boiling to difchargc tlie gum, and render the filk 

 fit to receive the dye, and alfo to render it folt and glolly. 

 The filk is boiled for about four hours, in a boiler filled with 

 water, into which a fmall quantity of foap is put ; tliis opera- 



tion diflblvcs the gum, which before could be felt upon the 

 filk, and rendered it harfh. After the boiling, it is well 

 wafhed in a current of clear water, and when dried, will be 

 found to have loft about one-fourth of its weight : at the 

 fame time the volume of the filk is fcnfibly increafed, and it 

 has acquired that loft texture and gloffinefs, which are the 

 principal beauties of filk. This change is produced by the 

 dillolution of the gum, which, in the firft inftance, was the 

 only adherence of the fibre to form a thread, but by the 

 operation of the twifting the fibres are firmly united, and no 

 longer require the gum. It is alfo necelTary, in order to give 

 a fine dye to the filk, that the gum fliould be removed, be- 

 caufe it would prevent the entrance of the dyeing matter to 

 the centre of the thread, and thus impair the beauty of the 

 colour. If the filk was tiius boiled before the twifting, no- 

 thing but a fine entangled down or wool would be obtained, 

 and it would require fpinning, by a fimilar proccfs to that of 

 cotton, before a thread could be obtained. This, indeed, is 

 neceflary for that portion of wafle filk which is drawn from 

 the cocoons in the firft operation of reeling ; alfo for thofe 

 cocoons which are referved for breeding, and from which 

 the moths eat their way out by holes, which render it im- 

 prafticable to wind (^ft the filk. This walle filk, when care- 

 fully fpun by a fpinniiig-wheel, is called fpun filk, and the 

 thread is not inferior to the regular (ilk which is wound off: 

 indeed, the winding off the filk into a thread united by 

 its gum, is of no advantage farther than as a preparation 

 for (pinning, from which procefs the thread obtains its 

 ftrength. 



The filk is now in a ftate for ufe : if it is for (locking- 

 weaving, or fewing, or if intended for weaving into (luff, it 

 only requires warping to be put into theluom. The opera- 

 tion of warping is to put together all the threads which are 

 to compofe the warp of the intended piece of (luff, and lay 

 them parallel, fo that the warp, being put into the loom, will 

 have no Aack threads, nor any which are ftrained too tight. 

 Formerly, this operation was performed by ftrctching the 

 threads out at length in a field, or by extending them in a 

 frame, and windii.g them backwards and forwards over pegs. 

 The warping machine now univerfally employed is Aiewn in 

 fig. 6, where A A is a treAel or ftool, which fupports the 

 fmall bobbins l,i, upon which the filk is wound. The num- 

 ber of thefe is equal to the number of threads which the warp 

 of the intended piece of (luft is to have in its breadth. The 

 threads from all tiafe bobbins are drawn over wires {f,J, 

 which are in front of the bobbins, and are then all brought 

 together, and palfed thronjjh an opening in a piece of wood 

 D ; this coiidudls the thrciids all together upon a large reel 

 E E, which is fupported in i frame F F F, and turned round 

 by means of a pulley at the lower end of its axle, from 

 which an endlels band is continued to a iecond wheel G, 

 mounted on a fpindle, and turned by a handle. This latter 

 fpindle is fupported in a fortofllool H, upon which a child 

 fits down, and at the fame time turns the handle and puts the 

 reel in motion, fo as to draw tiie warp or ademblagc of 

 threads off from the leveral bobbins, and lay it upon the 

 reel E. The piece of wood D is fitted upon one of the up. 

 right pieces, F, of the fr.ime, to Aide fiecly up and down 

 upon it, and is fufpended by a cord, which, after patHng 

 over a pulley y", is wrapped round the Ipindleof the machine 

 at f : by this means, the motion of the reel, E, draws the 

 cord, and railes up the piece D, fo as to lay the warp upon 

 the circumference of the reel, in a regular ipiral, from one 

 end to the other, and pivvent the coiU lapping one upon an- 

 other. When the required length u( warp is wound upon the 

 reel, the ends of all tlie threads are cut off, tied together, and 

 thus drawn ofl from the reel and rolled up into a large ball, 



in 



